Hello! Danny here to blog the first dress rehearsal of the final! This is the first time we will see the songs in the running order so we will get a feel of how everything is fitting together, and hopefully will give us an idea of the ones to look out for! Stay tuned on this blog to find out what we think of the show. The post also automatically refreshes every 2 minutes, so no need to keep hitting the refresh button!

The screens haven’t yet been turned on, so it seems that they must be running slightly late!

And we’re off! We just sawe a tiny clip of Loreen performing Euphoria in Baku, and now we have the introductory videio with a cute little caterpillar travelling around Europe, ending up at the Oresund bridge. Next, we see him in the chrysalis, and out comes the Eurovision butterfly! Flying over into Malmö, we have a video of Zlatan welcoming us to Sweden, and we’re in the arena!

There’s a choir on stagesinging We Write The Story, music is by Avicii Björn and Benny, and the same catwalk that was used on the first semi appears, then we have flag bearers and the competing artists walking along it in the order of appearance, it looks very much like the opening cermony of the Olympics! Once they get to the end of the catwalk, the singers disappear and the flag bearers go onto the stage joining the choir who have been singing away the whole time! The flag bearers wave their flags and walk around – it all looks very grand and I almost got a bit teary eyed!

Petra apopears on stage sans without make up in a neon pink dress and her hair still in rollers! Haha! Petra gives us an introduction on how Eurovision started – she mentions Australia, and that there’s a live camera in a home in Australia even though it’s 5am, it cuts to a video of a family sleeping! Next, it’s the voting rules and the running order appaears on screen, and the App gets another plug! Petra’s still learning her lines here, she makes a few mistakes, but that’s all fine, as she had more time to smooth all that out!

After Petra says “Let the competition begin”, there’s a long gap where I think the director is speaking to Petra, we can still hear her! After a few minutes, the butterfly appears in red, white and blue – that mean’s we’re finally good to go!

FRANCE

First up is Amadine in a black dressy, wild hair and crazy eyeliner looking very “gamin”. The stage is red and dark. I was surprised that this was first up, I’d have thought they’d have gone for Germany, but it gets the show off to a rather classy start. Mademoiselle Bourgeois is in fine voice and goes MENTAL at the end. I think thje juries are going to LOVE this. Voters, who knows. I think this is going to do better than expected. 8 seconds of applause from the people in the press centre.

LITHUANIA

Poor Andrius gets the wooden spoon of a draw, I suspect he qualified by the skin of his teeth. He’s actually looking rather good today, he must have had a few days off! He’s in causal clothes with t-shirt, jeans and a leather jacket. Vocally, he is fine, and I am starting to like this a but more, though with this rubbish draw I don’t think it’s going to help him at all, and I fear he could be propping up the table tomorrow night. 3 seconds of applause from the press centre.

MOLDOVA

The first proper ballad of the evening is up now, quite a good draw for Moldova I think, the same spot as Albania had last year. The dancers start the same positions they used for the actual semi which is better than the ones they used for the dress rehearsals. Aliona’s hair is back to her normal bob and is wearing her normal clothes, you can see that the dress bit that has the lights projected onto them is just an attachment. Good vocals as usual from Aliona, but only 2 seconds of applause from the press centre. 🙁

FINLAND

The audience are woken up with Krista next, the first proper uptempo of the evening and it’s a stark contrast to the last few understated songs. This could mean it’s remembered a bit more. Krista and her team perform the life out of the song as usual, and we have the full pyros this time unlike the first dress rehearsal of the semi. This one could sneak into the top 10 I think! 10 seconds of applause from the press centre, the best so far!

SPAIN

This one starts off dark and then Raquela appears walking barefoot on the stage in a lovely yellow dress looking rather pretty.  Vocally she’s not giving it her all at the beginning but picks up in the chorus where we have some pyros! The lightboxes all decend to the floor for the middle 8, Raquel touches one and then they rise up. It ends with all 3 of ESDM centre stage with a wind machine. This is all very nice and sweet, and I can see the juries voting a little for this but I don’t think the public will. Shame as it doesn’t deserve to be last. 6 seconds of applause from the press centre.

BELGIUM

Up next is what some people called a surprise qualifier (me included!)  – Roberto seems to be improving with every performance, he’s smiling more and looks more confident and he’s got a HUGE spot on his nose – I hope the make-up people sort this out on the night! Not sure about this one, don’t really see it doing much business on Saturday. 6 seconds of applause from the press centre.

ESTONIA

Next is for me, Miss Congeniality of Eurovision 2013, the lovely Birgit. It’s another confident and assured performance from her, as every single rehearsal has been. Some people were surprised this qualified but for me, it was an easy one. One of the backing singers looks like he is filming Birgit on his phone! There’s a lovely shot of the camera getting closer to the stage at the climax I think this will get quite a lot of jury votes! Top half of the table? 7 seconds of applause from the press centre!

BELARUS

Time for some more fun now, this one gets an applause even before the song starts! Alyona still looks a little “concerned” but it’s flowing a bit better than other rehearsals, I think. This is what many people think is typical Eurovision so I think it COULD do well with televoters, but I can’t see the juries going for it much at all, so I think a result not too unlike Eleftheria from Greece last year is quite likely. 7 seconds of applause from the press centre.

MALTA

The only microstate that has ever qualified for the final since the introduction of the semi-final format is up next. Gianluca is in jeans and a checked shirt that I’m sure I saw in H&M yesterday! He’s clearly delighted that he managed to qualify last night, the whole band are smiling away. This got a bit of a cheer from the press centre with 9 seconds of applause. Could this surprise us and do well?

RUSSIA

Dina’s not wearing her dress either today, instead is in a purple number, I actually prefer it to her stage costume. As always, she sings well, I think she perhaps has the best voice of this competition. A lot of fans don’t really like this but I do, and she will do well, jury votes and televotes from around Eastern Europe are assured. 6 seconds of applause from the press centre.

GERMANY

Natalie from Cascada has a discoball in her apartment! I LOVE that! 🙂 Natalie starts as usual on the stairs wearing a simple black top and jeans. There’s lights aplenty and LOTS of pyros – the instrumental bit after the first chorus looks VERY effective on screen, the whole thing comes across as something you’d see on the MTV Music Awards. Natalie walks down the catwalk and I can imagine this will be amazing come the live show with all the flags waving. A definite top tenner, I’d say. 11 seconds of applause from the press centre.

ARMENIA

For me this is the biggest surprise of a qualifier this year, it’s just one song I do not get at all. To be fair, it’s performed well by the band and in this bunch of songs it really sticks out. Because of that I can see this doing well, to the shock of many gays around Europe. 5 seconds of applause from just one person in the press centre!

LYNDA WOODRUFF

Lynda’s in Stockholm now – there’s a viking hat, polar bears, ABBA gets a mention too! She gets the biggest applause so far! I won’t spoil it for you though! Back after a costume change into more casual clothes is Petra, she slips up and introduces Anouk as from Holland before correcting herself!

THE NETHERLANDS

Thank GOD this qualified, after so many attempts the Dutch have finally made it into the final. This is effortlessly strong, flawless and understated. I’m even going to stick my neck out and say this could win the jury vote! Top 5 I think is a strong possibility, and it would be well deserved! 13 seconds of applause from the press centre! She goes into the lead!

ROMANIA

This is sure to get a lot of WTF moments around Europe, and as such I think is going to pick up a fair whack of televotes. Cezar isn’t wearing his full outfit so we don’t get to see his chest. He sings it well, but I still think it looks messy on stage – the red drapey thing doesn’t get wrapped around the platform so we see it rising, it’s basically a large wooden box! I wonder if that’s the same one Aliona uses? 6 seconds of applause from Bonnie.

UNITED KINGDOM

Hmmm… I think this is a TERRIBLE draw for my home country, most people will still be staring open mouthed at the screen after the histrionics from Romania.  Bonnie misses a few camera shots but overall it looks fine and the trick with the rising platform works well. I just think the song is a bit too bland to appeal to people, it’s just very forgettable. I’m afraid after having my hopes raised after the first rehearsal that she’s going to be down near the botttom of the scoreboard. 🙁 10 seconds of applause for Bonnie, but these were mostly from British fans.

SWEDEN

Robin and his team are still in those AWFUL outfits. Seriously, the stylist should be sacked! Robin’s hair isn’t styled either. Visually it looks better than before but it’s still not quite there for me. He’s fine again vocally, too. I don’t think this is going to do too badly, but not that well either, which isn’t too embarrassing for the home nation! 17 seconds of applause, but then half the press here are Swedish anyway!

HUNGARY

Good draw for Hungary – in last year’s winning position. Same performance as before, very simple and this is geared up for jury votes, not really sure it will pick up a lot of televotes though. Mid-table at best I’d say but I think the Hungarians would be happy with that. 9 seconds of applause from the press centre.

DENMARK

The big favourite is up next. It’s looking and sounding strong. This is probably the perfect draw for them after the simple Hungarian song and being late on. I think we could well be in for a runaway winner with this, I think the momentum has built and built for this over the week and I don’t think it can be stopped! 12 seconds of applause from the press centre.

ICELAND

Eyþór is wearing the black outfit today, it’s much better than the white one I think. This again is simple and he is in fine voice once again. This is a jury song through and through and I’m sure the Irish are going to LOVE it too. I think it will do better than the last few years for Iceland but I can’t see it in the upper echelons of the table. 9 seconds of applause from the press centre.

AZERBAIJAN

Unlike the Danish song, I think this one has actually LOST a bit of momentum since we started to watch the dress rehearsals almost 2 weeks ago (has it really been this long?) I think this whole stage performance is trying to mask what’s actually a VERY average song, Farid looks good though – he’s definitely the hottie of the competition this year. Definitely top 10, as it’s Azerbaijan, but it looks like more of a Safura result than a Ell and Nikki one. 6 seconds of applause from the press centre, mostly from a girl with an Azeri flag!

GREECE

Greece are in their usual clothes too, funny how some of them don’t bother but others like Finland always do. I suppose it may be down to if the costumes are a significant part of the routine. The Greek boys are doing their usual running around the stage – I think since there are pretty much NO other Balkan countries in the final this year, that this is going to sweep up their votes, and I could see it in the top 5 EASILY. 7 seconds of applause from the press centre!

UKRAINE

This is a VERY strong section we have here – I can see why they decided to put some of the big hitters towards the end. Zlata is wearing rather interesting colourful trousers today, she’s singing well, I just don’t think that this will get much from outside the Eastern countries. Still, it got 14 seconds of applause from the press centre and a huge cheer, so you never know!

ITALY

Quite a plum slot for Italy here – Marco is looking rather dapper in a blue suit and the beard is gone! It looks quite effecting after Ukraine’s goings on.. Good vocals from him too I think this is possibly another top 5er here. I know I’ve said that about a lot of songs though, so who knows! It’s such a difficult year! 13 seconds of applause from the press centre.

NORWAY

Another big fave here! No dress today from Margaret, she’s looking quite relaxed in a T-shirt with bananas on it. This looks GOOD on screen. VERY GOOD in fact. Her vocals are fine, she is better than the first few rehearsals, she’s probably more calmer now she’s actually in the final. This is another one that I want to add to my potential (and probably 2o songs long) top 10 list! 13 seconds of applause from the press centre!

GEORGIA

Sophie is in a silver dress whereas Nodi is in a more casual top and trousers. A few of my Euro friends have predicted a win for this, I fear it might be too much of a fan song though to win. Their vocals are still a tad shouty but I think better than the semi final performance. This should be in the mix for top 10. I’m going to have to do some serious cutting though! This got 9 seconds of applause from the press centre.

IRELAND

Last up it’s the Irish song, the Irish fans were ecstatic with this slot, but I’m not so sure it’s a good one for them. It’s a long slog to listen to 26 songs in 2 hours, even for Eurovision fans. I’m not a huge fan of the staging, I think it might be a bit too much, some of the dance moves are a bit tacky, but to give them their due they  perform it rather well and Ryan sings it decent enough. The jury’s out on this one for me. 6 seconds of applause from the audience.

Petra’s back and tells us that Jean-Paul Gaultier designed her dress and he’s in the audience (not right now – but will be tomorrow!) and there’s a funny bit with a cameraman which I won’t spoil for you!

Snabbrepris time – and I can have a few minutes rest! Phew!

Next up, Petra introduces Loreen! She sings her new single “We Got The Power” which reminds me of Florence and the Machine, and then it’s her old MF entry from 2011, “My Heart Is Refusing Me”, she flies round the stage and then dons a white cape and walks to the satellite stage which rises even higher than it did with Bonnie!

After another reprise, we have a coutndown from Petra – which starts too early, so by the time she’s about to countdown, it’s already at ONE!

We then have a VT which is a news report about Sweden, I can’t really make some of it out as the press centre has filled up after the songs have finished, but Fredrik Reinfeldt makes an appearance and there’s a shot of a guy’s naked bum! Haha!

Now up is Petra performing a swing song about Sweden with some funny lyrics mentioning all the famous things about Sweden – it’s jolly and fun and interesting and there’s even another gay kiss between two guys! We expect some countries will not be showing this, that’s for sure. During the song CAROLA who is only on stage for a few seconds – we won’t spoil the reason why! The whole thing is just fantastic!

Next up is another VT about Eurovision – this time about WINNING! Petra appears in the clips again, and there’s even a mention of Johnny Logan which you cannot miss!

Eric Saade is introduced with a short VT and he’s in the green room! Back to Petra and we now have a long pause…not sure if they are going to show the voting or not, it doesn’t look like it!

Now we have Sarah Dawn Finer singing a lovely version of ABBA’s “The Winner Takes It All” – I wonder if people will make the Lynda Woodruff connection?

There’s then a clever dance skit where the scoreboard is revealed but then the screen goes black. Not sure if we’re going to get anything else! We think it’s a closed rehearsal for this. So we will leave you there – overall I think it’s a bloody fantastic show. Fun and not cringeworthy at all. The Swedes really know how to put on a show! It’s going to be a great one tomorrow night. Now I’m off to go to the EuroFan Cafe this evening to see Pay TV, Stockholm Syndrome and Eddie Razaz before seeing Charlotte Perrelli at Wonk! I also need to make time to think of my predictions! Thanks for sticking with me!